Sunday, April 19, 2015

After splitting off a section of stone from the bottom of this piece, I cut the bottom flat with an angle grinder. I use a hammer to tap off sections as I go.

Almost there, just a little bit at the corner.

The other stone for the Predator and Prey sculpture is moved in. There will be a young deer leaping away, I'm working on the model for it. Nothing to see yet.

I use a diamond burr on the die grinder to cut in the small lower teeth of the American Lion. The burr flares out at the end which is better for cutting in between teeth. I can't get to close to the lips - it will cut a "v" into the lip. I will use a diamond point where the teeth and lips meet.

The burr I used for the teeth I also use around the eye.

I need to soften the lips - lots of edges there that don't belong on a lion - also need to refine and finish the nose.

The canine teeth are too wide and need to come to more of a point....

I am making a way for rainwater to drain from the top of the piece but not run around the side to the front leg of the Lion.

I have sloped the top toward the center of the block and toward the back so rainwater won't run over the carved area of the sculpture.

Here is tiny snapping turtle that was out in the road, so I crossed it.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

There were symmetry problems with the lions eyes - the one on the right side (lions left) was too wide so I marked in crayon where it needed to come in, also the brow needed some stone removed as well. I marked all these in black china marker. A small arrow shows where the ridge running up the middle of the nose should be - the ridge line is what I measured off of and it was off center. Also, the area between the inside of the eye and brow of the problem eye is not as deep as the other eye.

I have worked on the eye and gotten it pretty close to where it needs to be. I will go on to work on other areas before I finish the details of the eye.

I have carved out behind the canine (feline?) tooth with a die grinder. I check my photo reference of tigers and lions snarling and I realize upper lip just over the teeth is too full and needs to be carved back.

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I have also added some furriness just in front of the ears, this is more in keeping with a tiger than a lion.

After I was sure the eyes were just right I could then begin to establish exactly where the teeth are, while the eyes are easy to move around (you can always set them a bit further back) once you have cut around a tooth, that's it, there no way to change it. I have crayoned the individual teeth but will be looking at reference and looking at the sculpture to be sure how to cut in those big teeth.

A little refining of the front leg with a sander...

The face is better, probably a bit more off the lower part of the upper lip... At this stage of the sculpture I spend much more time looking than carving.

This is a portrait sculpture for a local veterinarian. He is looking at a puppy while it's anxious but trusting mother watches.

This is kind of horrible looking, it is the hand of the Kid I have been working on (it is in Castilene and will be cast in bronze). The left forearm was too long so I cut it off and stuck the hand back on by warming some more Castilene.

The kids face was also too wide on this side - I have taken the ear off and will take off about 1/8" of clay - if you look closely there is a tiny little line..... also I use a 3m 180 sanding sponge to smooth the face on the right side of the photo nearest the light. I used a heat gun to warm the clay and then warm the sponge. I will post better photos later.

I drilled and split a piece of marble I will carve into a sculpture of a little girl. I first drilled holes with a bulldog drill (3/8" bit) then I used the hammer drill with a 3/4" bit then a 1" bit for the large holes. The reason I stepped up so many times is that the hammer drill doesn't have a clutch and if it binds in the hole at all it can twist out of your hands and whack you in the arms. By slowly enlarging the holes in steps it didn't bind much at all - no bruises!

The stone broke fairly clean, it ran out a bit it went the best direction away from the sculpture. I lost a bit of stone from the section I removed but there is enough there for some small sculpture.

This is a photo of the flood waters around a farm house , but the photo is turned on its side - can you tell which is the reflection?